STANFORD – Now in her 33rd NCAA Tournament, Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer may have seen it all. But even she seemed surprised when Florida Gulf Coast opened the game with 5-foot-9 guard Taylor Gradinjan on 6-foot-4 standout Stanford forward Alanna Smith.

It didnt take a Hall of Famer to know where to go with the ball. Smith made all six of her shots in Stanfords most productive quarter of the season.

They had some interesting match-ups, VanDerveer said. They had really kind of a small player on Alanna and she just went to town right in there.

Then again, without a single six-footer on their roster, the Eagles didnt have many options. Fourth-seeded Stanford took full advantage of its size Monday night, dominating inside in a 90-70 win over No. 12 Florida Gulf Coast (31-5) in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at Maples Pavilion.

Stanford (24-10) advanced to the Sweet 16 for the 11th straight season and will next face top-seeded Louisville (34-2) Friday in Lexington, Kentucky. The programs have never met before. No. 2 Baylor (33-1) and No. 6 Oregon State (25-7) will play in the other semifinal in the Lexington Regional.

Stanford outrebounded the Eagles 52-18 and had a 40-12 edge in points in the paint as it improved to 36-4 in NCAA Tournament games on The Farm.

I wish I would have grew overnight, but didnt work out that way, said 5-foot-8 Eagles guard China Dow, who had a team-high 23 points. Their height was very effective.

Smith had 13 points as the Cardinal took a 33-16 lead after the first quarter – the most points Stanford scored in any period this season.

The junior from Australia finished with 28 points and 12 rebounds and held Rosemarie Julien, FGCUs leading scorer, to seven points on 3 of 11 shooting. Fellow all-Pac-12 selection Brittany McPhee, in her final game at Maples, added 17 points, nine rebounds and three steals.

The Eagles compensate for their lack of size with gritty play and outside shooting. Sporting RAINING 3S warm-up shirts, they shot 17 of 47 (36 percent) from behind the arc on Monday, setting an NCAA record for 3-pointers made in a season with 431. But Stanford held its own from long range, going 9 of 17 (53 percent).

Freshman Kiana Williams had 12 points and six assists to just one turnover, while backup guard DiJonai Carrington had 14 points, five rebounds and three steals in 20 minutes.

After going 6-6 against a tough nonconference schedule and dropping out of the AP Top 25 for the first time since 2001, the Cardinal are now back in the Lexington Regional for the third straight season – while standout teams it lost to early such as Ohio State and Tennessee are no longer playing.

Tara says it all the time  every disappointment is a blessing, Smith said. And right now our blessings are coming to us I think.

Stanford went through Lexington during its Final Four run last season and lost in the Elite Eight in Lexington in 2016.